TV legend Richard Blackwood is convinced black stars have scored a victory over racists. The former Hollyoaks actor thinks shows will continue to become more diverse despite some bigots moaning about it
Richard Blackwood is convinced black TV stars have won the war on racism.
The comedian has seen the industry become far more diverse since he first shot to fame in the 90s and he’s thrilled about it.
He told the Daily Star: “I’ve been in this business for 32 years. I’ve seen how the doors have opened.
“There isn’t such a divide between races anymore. In the 90s shows for the black community were on late. Now we’re on mainstream.
“Racist people want TV to be a certain type of way. There are people who are sick in the head and weird.
“But those are the people that are dying out. Nobody else cares.
“Very soon, if you have a problem with colour, you will be the odd one out.”
Richard is confident TV will continue to be more diverse in the future. He added: “Nothing ever goes backwards. That doesn’t happen. Everything moves forwards.
“The integration of colour is never going to stop.”
Former Hollyoaks star Richard still thinks there is room for improvement.
He said: “We have done a lot in a short space of time. We have come a long way. But there’s more to do.
“I am hopeful. Imagine what is going to happen in the next 20 years.”
Richard has signed up to be a new team captain on panel show Sorry, I Didn’t Know, which is about black history. See him on the new series when it continues on Sunday on ITV2.
Richard has previously claimed he has been stopped and searched by cops “thousands of times” because he is black. He said: “I don’t think I could count how many times I’ve been searched.
“I started driving when I was 19 and the number of times it’s happened since then is in the thousands. I was once in the car around 2013 and a police officer poked a machine gun at my friend.
“Another time, I flagged the police down because my tyre had gone and they asked for my licence and registration. They said, ‘We just want to do a check to see if this is your car’.
“It’s normal for black people to go through that. This is the bad part of what people of colour go through. Our norm is different.”
Richard also said he wanted police forces to take action to tackle racism. He added: “We need to stop the ignorance. I don’t think racism is embedded in the police.
“But I do believe that you have certain police officers who understand they have power. There are ones who know they can be a bully.”
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